The Techie Page ... Specifications and On-Board Equipment
(Last updated (11/14/10)
La Nostra was built by Caribbean Sailing Yachts in Florida in 1977. She is hull #23 - which tells us she was built after the factory had built enough boats to get most of the production problems solved, but early enough so the workers were still enthusiastic. We have found the construction quality to be excellent throughout.
The hull is solid, very thick fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin. It was built with no core, so although it might transmit more heat or cold than a cored hull, she's rugged as an icebreaker!
The deck is also solid laminate, again with no core material. This means that she can expect to have a very long life as there is no encapsulated wood in her basic structure which could rot.
Power is provided by a Perkins 4-236 diesel engine producing 82 hp. This engine was installed new in 1997 to replace the original Perkins 4-154, which was rated at 60 hp. We find that this upgraded engine makes a world of difference when under power - especially when trying to make way into a head sea.
The transmission is a Hurth 250 series with a 2.75:1 ratio, installed new in 2006. This, in turn, drives a 3-bladed, fixed, 22" propeller, set at 22X22.
A PSS Shaft Seal was installed in December 2003 to replace what is believed to have been the old original bronze stuffing box. It works great - not a sign of a drip! (Hint: Make certain set screws which hold the stainless disc on the prop shaft are kept tight and that you have the proper size allen wrench on board.)
A brand new raw water cooling pump was installed in January of '04 along with a SpeedSeal impeller cover.
The engine heat exchanger was removed and completely cleaned in late 2003.
Smooth water cruising speed at 2100 RPM and typical load is just over 6.5 kts.
Electricity is provided by a Balmar 100 amp. alternator routed through a Balmar 3-stage regulator to our battery banks. The house bank consists of 4 Trojan T-105 6-volt batteries, hooked in parallel and then series to provide 12 volts. In theory this gives us a tad over 460 Amp. Hours in the house bank at 12V which we find to be sufficient for present needs. The starting battery, on its own circuit, is an AC Delco M30HMF rated at 900 MCA, 115 Amps.
We installed a KISS wind generator in January 2004. This allows us to keep the batteries topped off while at anchor or under way without the need to run the main engine. We find the noise from this unit to be minimal - a gentle "swoosh" in moderate winds. However, when wind speeds exceed 25 kt or so noise from the unit does become annoying when sitting in the cockpit - but at wind speeds much more than that it should be shut down anyways. Overall, we're quite happy with it.
In addition to the wind generator, La Nostra is equipped with two 80 watt Kyocera solar panels installed in 2004 and 2006. These keep the batteries topped up while we're under way with the KISS shut down and also add to the wind generator's output on calm days. We can spend days at anchor without running the engine!
New in 2005 was a W-H Autopilot. This is a very rugged unit from a small company which specializes in autopilots for commercial fishing boats. The Dashews use them on all of their boats - so they've GOT to be good! We're really happy to have this piece of equipment on board. It makes those longer passages much more relaxing, and it makes it possible to raise and lower the sails single-handed.
The refrigeration was new in 2001. It is a Trinidad-built, water-cooled, 12volt system set up to cool the forward-most two refrigerator compartments. Cooling is done via. a standard, hollow evaporator unit mounted in the fridge compartment. We use the area inside it as a mini-freezer, the area directly below it (the coldest area) for beverages and ice and the rest of the huge space for veggies, etc. The third compartment, originally set up as a freezer, is currently used as a locker to store extra bottles of drinking water, soda, etc. We do, however, plan to re-insulate it and install a cold plate sometime in the future restoring it once again to freezer status. At that time we'll re-insulate the main fridge as well.
One clever detail in the fridge setup is that although it is water-cooled, there is no through-hull and no seawater circulated through the system ... it is plumbed into the starboard 200 gal. water tank! Not only will this tend to prolong the system's life, but it also has the advantage of gradually heating the water in the tank to a very nice shower temperature. ( If we want really HOT water for bathing we rely on a heavy-duty 6-gal. "Sun Shower" solar heating device.)
The old primary winches (Barient 27's) were replaced in Dec. 2002 with stainless steel Andersen 52's. These have proved to be great winches, and we love the extra power which they provide.
Also installed in late 2002 is a Lofrans Falkon horizontal electric windlass. Having taken our first short cruise with the old manual windlass still in place we really appreciate this fine piece of gear!
The original primary anchor was a 45 lb CQR on 200 feet of 3/8 chain. In December, 2003 it was replaced with a 60 pound CQR on brand new 3/8 chain. Actually, the old 45 pounder had proved quite adequate, holding us very well in some pretty nasty weather - including one time when we had a 43 foot Oceanus drag down on us and wind up stuck on our port bow with its deep rudder hooked around our anchor chain ... this being in 30-35 kt. winds and driving rain squalls. That little anchor just gritted its teeth and held both boats stock still! However, with the new anchor we've given ourselves a little extra margin of safety. (Thanks, again, Rob and Durreen!)
At Christmas, 2007, the stern anchor was upgraded from a 25 lb CQR to a Fortress #23. (Thanks to Santa's helper, Barbara) This new anchor weighs half of what the old one did, but is rated as the recommended size for a primary anchor on a boat of La Nostra's size so it can double as an additional storm anchor.
New in Jan. '06 was a 10 1/2 foot AB inflatable dinghy. We opted for the new design with the aluminum hull and I must say that it is far and away the best handling inflatable I have ever seen. With its deep "V" bottom it cuts through chop beautifully, it gets up on plane quickly and because of the full length strakes on the bottom it corners as if on rails. Also, all towing and lifting points are welded to the hull. AB feels the hull will have such a long life that they make replacing the inflatable body a simple task. We love it!
It is powered by a 2002, 15 hp Yamaha 2-stroke outboard. Maybe it doesn't run quite as clean and efficiently as a 4-stroke, but as Yamaha engines are distributed all over the world, it is reliable and easy to repair almost anywhere. It has gone through an intentional "aging process" which included attacking it here and there with sandpaper, gouging the paint with a screwdriver and scraping up the decals a bit. Looks like its been through a war (or two) so it, too, is low profile at the dinghy dock, but it purrs like a kitten! This package gets up on plane with one person at half throttle and will plane with four adults plus SCUBA gear in calm water. With just one person it gets downright hairy if run wide open!
Also new in '06 were polished aluminum custom davits which both raise and carry the dinghy (with motor in place) and provide a great place for mounting the solar panels.
'06 also found us making the switch from teak oil to Cetol on the exterior teak outside of the cockpit. It was quite a chore using our small electric sander to get the cap rails smoothed down after years of neglect which had caused severe erosion of the wood grain, but the product itself goes on easily and the end result is really beautiful. We'll let you know how it holds up. (So far so good ... and now we've changed over all the rest of the teak to this system as well.)
Long range plans call for replacing the bow roller with twin rollers and adding a second anchor up front - probably a 66 lb Bruce on 25 feet or so of chain plus a long nylon rode.
The yankee jib is handled by a new-in-2002 Pro-Furl roller furling system. We are VERY pleased with the furler.
The stays'l is still the old hank-on type, and, yes, we still use the club boom to handle it. (In fact, the traveler and related hardware was also new in 2002.) Future plans call for roller furling here as well, but we plan to keep the little boom.
The main sail was new in 1999. It has two reef points, both set up for single-line reefing. Frankly, it has been a pain to handle (literally as Harry tore up the rotator cuff in his left shoulder trying to man-handle the thing into submission) - soooo ...
New for 2006 is a Dutchman sail flaking system complete with the super-low friction behind-the-mast track and special slides. This is one terrific system! It makes the main SO much easier to raise, and lowering consists of just letting go the halyard and the whole sail drops in an instant as it flakes itself neatly atop the boom. All that is needed is a few tugs here and there to straighten it out, wrap on the ties and cover it up ... really simple! Installation was done by a local sail loft and I fine-tuned it myself.
Next we plan to lead the main halyard into the cockpit, followed in short order by the reefing lines.
New in '09 is a set of 2" open cell foam cockpit cushions. They are covered in a beige Sunbrella for durability. On the cushions for the seats along the outboard sides of the cockpit I had the loft cut through the foam about 18" from the aft end. They covered the two pieces of foam separately and then added a "hinge", also made of Sunbrella, so that the last 18" of each cushion can be flipped back onto the longer piece. This gets it out of the way of people's feet as they enter and exit the cockpit so it doesn't take a beating, but makes it easy to flip it back down for comfortable seating. An unanticipated extra benefit is that we can also use this little extra flap as a backrest by sliding the larger part of the cushion up against the end of the cockpit seats and flipping the little part up against the bulkhead.
For communications, currently aboard is an Icom M-59 VHF transceiver. It has proven to be quite good, and I hope it will be with us for some time. It will be joined by an SSB, probably another Icom, as soon as the kitty allows. This will be set up for e-mail for sure, and possibly weather fax as well - not sure yet.
2006 also found the addition of a Dell laptop computer with wireless capability ... courtesy of Barbara, the First Mate. It allows us to access the internet while at anchor in many populated anchorages and has greatly improved our communications capabilities. In 2007 we added a long-range Wi-Fi antenna to boost access range.
In the safety department we carry a full compliment of the required life jackets and a Lifesling with the block and tackle kit. We also carry a man-overboard pole. There are two inflatable PFDs on board, including harnesses, and appropriate jacklines are installed on deck.
In November of 2007, the old plastic ports in the aft cabin were replaced with new opening ports made of polished stainless. We also replaced the three fixed ports in the transom with new opening units. This has greatly improved the air flow through this cabin.
2008 finds a great improvement in on-board entertainment. A new AM-FM receiver/amplifier has been added as have two new, high performance speakers in the main salon and two more in the cockpit. An extensive MP3 musical library is now on board as well.
All chainplates were pulled for inspection during the summer of '08 and were found to be in good condition. After a thorough cleaning they were re-installed with new bolts and bedding.
Also in '08 the entire hull was faired, prepped and painted with Interlux Brightside so the entire boat looks like new again!
I'm sure I've overlooked many important points, but I'll add them later as the site is updated.
By the way - if you've read this far you're obviously a true techie! I'd be most grateful for your comments, suggestions and questions ... that's the best way to learn ... so feel free to drop me an email at: harryrezz@earthlink.net.
